Fairs and Markets

As Springfield Fairs, Polly and Peter Trapmore-Shaw’s upcoming Spalding Antique and Collectors’ Fair in the Lincolnshire town famous for its flower bulbs, is at the Springfield Event Centre on Sunday, February 4.

The annual TEFAF art market report has been scrapped in favour of a number of smaller, focused reports.

Renovation of a key venue and repair work following last year’s extreme weather have not deterred exhibitors from the annual migration to Florida for the state’s mega and niche fairs...

Among the 150 dealers at the upcoming Decorative Antiques & Textiles Fair (January 23-28) is newcomer of sorts, Nic McElhatton, former head of Christie’s South Kensington.

The picture dealer element of BRAFA is substantial, but increasingly these days the emphasis is on works from the 19th century onwards, be they Impressionist and modern or post-war and contemporary art.

Brussels gears up for its major art and antiques fair this month with the latest edition of BRAFA.

While BRAFA understandably dominates much of the cultural headlines during this period, it is not the only show in town.

BRAFA has long been a fair with a speciality in early (medieval and Renaissance) works of art, which is something that dates back to the years when it was a Belgian National fair in the city centre. It thus serves a venerable collecting tradition drawing in buyers from the local area and further afield.

Alan Blakeman, lifelong rock climber and founder of niche business BBR Auctions in Elsecar, near Barnsley, had a good 2017.

Tribal art has long been a Belgian speciality due to the country’s colonial history in Africa. So it is not surprising to see this area well represented at BRAFA, with around a dozen participants in this field hailing from Paris, Brussels and as far away as Montreal.

Antiquities is one of BRAFA’s strong suits in terms of exhibitor volume. Around 10 specialists in this field are standing, plus a number of others that mix antiquities with, for example, Asian art.

Work from 1880 returns to where it was made after it was offered at nearby antiques fair...

The annual London Antique Rug & Textile Art Fair (LARTA) returns to Battersea for the second time to run in conjunction with the Decorative Antiques & Textiles Fair from January 23-28. Taking place on the mezzanine of Battersea Evolution, the fair focuses on carpets, rugs and woven design.

This is Liza Minelli as you might never have seen her – in this Polish poster by Wiktor Górka for the film Kabaret, which was created in 1973 for the first year of the film’s release in Poland.

Some of the works on offer at BRAFA are simply too quirky to fit into any time-honoured collecting category, but they are often responsible for creating an eyecatching draw to a particular stand.